Cucumber Salad, Eating In-Season

In the middle of the hot Oklahoma summer, garden salads can be scarce.  It's just too hot to grow decent lettuce and my salad mesclun mix was too popular with the bugs to keep going.  But one cool summer vegetable I do have a steady supply of is cucumber.

I have always loved cucumber tomato salads, but I started searching for a simple cucumber salad today and turned up this wonderful dish on Recipezaar.  Somewhere between salad and slaw, it was a hit at dinner.  Below is the recipe (with a couple notes on my variation).

Cucumber Salad

• 2 cucumbers, very thinly sliced (I scooped out the seeds first.)
• 1 red onion, very thinly sliced (I used scallions.)
• 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice (Apple vinegar was great!)
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (I opted for granular Splenda.)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill (I had dried dill and used 1/2 tsp.)

1. Mix cucumbers and onions together.
2. Mix rest of ingredients together in a closed bowl and give a shake.
3. Add to cucumbers, chill till very cold & serve.

(I just threw all of the ingredients in with the cucumbers and onions and mixed it well, instead of shaking before mixing.)

See?  Eating in season is all about a little creativity.

Moroccan Coleslaw

I've had two requests for the Moroccan Coleslaw recipe I mentioned recently, so here it is! I wish I could claim it as entirely my own, but I modified it from a South Beach recipe. It doesn't have as much tang as traditional slaw and it's not as thickly coated in dressing, so we really enjoyed it like a salad.

Moroccan Coleslaw

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tb fresh lemon juice
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tsp sugar (or granular Splenda)
1 tsp ground cumin
4 cups shredded green cabbage
4 medium carrots, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the mayo, lemon juice, scallions, sugar, and cumin in a very large bowl. Add carrots, cabbage, salt, and pepper. Toss until evenly coated. Serve or refrigerate immediately.